In the shipment of packaged lumber, particularly when the shipment is by means of flatcars, it is highly desirable to provide a non-slip or non-skid property to the lumber wrap to minimize the possible chance of workers slipping during the loading and unloading of the packaged lumber in shipment. This is especially true under wet conditions. It is therefore a common practice for most manufacturers of lumber wraps to apply an anti-skid material to the surface of their products, which is usually done in the form of a printed pattern rather than a continuous coating for economical reasons. Some manufacturers apply their non-skid material in the form of solid stripes spaced apart on centers about three to five times the width of the stripe and extending from side-to-side of the treated area of the lumber wrap web, whereas others utilize a crisscross or a herringbone pattern for the application of their non-skid or non-slip material. In all cases, the non-slip pattern is applied to the center section of the lumber wrap, by a printing technique, so that in use, it is positioned on the top surface of the packaged lumber where workmen are likely to walk.
In any case, the cost of the non-skid, non-slip treatment of the lumber wrap is a very material economic factor and it is thus a particular object of the present invention to provide a non-skid, non-slip treatment for an improved lumber wrap material which will materially reduce the cost of the treatment systems heretofore employed. It is also an object to provide a system of high friction treatment of lumber wrap material which, in combination with the applied non-slip pattern, will be very effective under both wet and dry surface conditions of the wrapped lumber.